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Oakley in Cincinnati: What's the Story?

Tue, 02/10/2009 - 9:00pm — carol.meadows

So you are thinking of buying a house in Oakley, Ohio? What's so good about Oakley?

Oakley is a village on the wrong side of the tracks that has become very popular in recent years, a place that people actually would rather live in (mostly because it is affordable) than the uppercrust next door neighbor, Hyde Park!

Yes Oakley is a very fun place to hang out, eat ice cream and home made chocolates at the marble counter with the Tiffany lights at Aglamesis. You can dine at Boca, or eat pizza at Deweys. All things the best in Cincinnati! Is there anything "Best" in Hyde Park? Well there is best and better, so who's to say?

Oakley was not built of brick, towering mansions, beautiful romantic English Tudors on half acre lots. Oakley was originally built for blue collar workers. Sensible housing on small lots was built, just right for families of hard working people who may have worked at the great Cincinnati Milacron as early as 1910.

When Oakley was built it was a busy neighborhood close to the race track, with even the original little houses that the jockeys called home. Of course, all of this was on the "wrong side" of the railway line that borders the elite Hyde Park with its historic romantic appeal, small custom dress shops for men and women and its little boutique shops for your linens and your dog! Oakley's business district caters almost exclusively to young up and coming people, needing a quick meal after working late or a special meal to impress a special person or all things needed in that first home!

Oakley has been preserved. It has gone through the mid 1900s, often turned into multi-family homes, often the victim of fake wood panelling and dropped ceilings, shag carpeting and garish colors like harvest gold, and avocado green. The housing has survived surprisingly well, thank goodness the colors and the updates of the 50's and 60's has long been replaced!

Presently, Oakley has been all gussied up with granite counter tops, plantation blinds, Ikea trimmings in the kitchen, espresso makers, refinished oak and pine floors, replacement windows and flags on the porch advertising which university has been responsible for the brains that rest on the back deck!

The people of Oakley now take leisurely walks to Oakley Square to admire the art deco theater, still used but usually not for the latest 2nd run movie but for parties, weddings and other activities, conveniently next door to the laundromat. All sorts of things to see, bars, cafe's, cute little 2nd hand shops just right for decking out the home of young single people with their first foot on the real estate ladder, or young couples in need of some extra furniture! There are a wide variety of shops to look at, satisfying diverse tastes and age groups.

Oakley is a fun place, significantly less expensive than Hyde Park, a different breed of owners, and a more informal "anything goes" sort of place. Better check it out before someone else finds out about it!